Lubricating system



April 1965 w. c. M KENZlE LUBRICATING SYSTEM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 OriginalFiled March 16, 1959 INVENTOR.

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LUBRICA'IING SYSTEM Original Filed March 16, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,178,656 LUBRI'CATEIG SYSTEM William G. McKenzie,Racine, Wis., assignor to Viailrer Manufacturing Company of Wisconsin,Racine, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Original application Mar. 16,1959, Ser. No. 799,787, new Patent No. 3,951,263, dated Aug. 28, 1962.Divided and this application Sept. 22, 1961, Ser. No. 146,396

1 Claim. (Cl. 222- 23) This application is a division of my co-pendingapplication entitled Lubricating System, filed March 16, 1959, SerialNo. 799,787, now Patent No. 3,051,263 of August 28, 1962.

This invention relates to lubricating systems, and more particularly tosystems for periodically applying predetermined amounts of lubricant tomechanisms such as automobile vehicles or industrial machinery.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved lubricatingsystem which may be used in stationary equipment or on vehicles, andwhich provides for automatic metering of the lubricant supply to severalbearings upon periodic system actuation.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved lubricatingsystem of this nature which may be controlled either manually or byoperation of the equipment being lubricated, assuring proper supply oflubricant to all necessary bearings.

It is another object to provide an improved lubricating system forautomotive type vehicles which is operable by manifold vacuum, engineoil pressure, or other power sources, and in which either engine oil ora separate bearing lubricant may be utilized for lubricating thebearings.

It is a further object to provide an improved lubricating system of theabove nature which automatically meters the amount of lubricant suppliedto each bearing, and in which the amount metered may be varied to suitrequirements. a

It is also an object to provide a lubricating system of this characterwhich will tend to automatically clear any clogged lines which mayexist, so that all bearings will receive their proper supply oflubricant.

It is another object to provide an improved lubricant system of thisnature which is relatively inexpensive to construct and operate, and maybe fabricated of standard materials and components.

It is a further object to provide a novel and improved fluid meteringdevice for use in lubricating systems or the like, which is of simpleand inexpensive construction and is capable of accurate and reliablemeasurements of successive fluid portions.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the subsequent description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary top elevational view of ddidfl b Patented Apr.13, l65

ice

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 showing the metering device asthe pressure is relieved;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectioned elevational view of another embodiment ofthe invention operable by engine oil pressure;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of one of themetering devices of the embodiment of FIGURE 5 shown in its pressurizedcondition;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 6 showing the metering device inits unpressuri zed condition;

FIGURE 8 is an elevational view in cross-section of still anotherembodiment of the invention in which engine oil may be directly utilizedfor bearing lubricating purposes; and

FIGURE 9 is a schematic view of still another embodiment of theinvention adapted for use in industrial establishments.

In general terms, the illustrated embodiments of the invention eachcomprises a manifold block or-other support to which is connected aplurality of lines leading to separate bearings in a mechanism such asan automotive chassis or to one or more machines in an industrial plant.Mounted in each of these lines is a metering device comprising anexpandable chamber, preferably a short section of resilient tubing.Within this tubing is a spherical member or ball movable toward and awayfrom a position in which it closes the connection between the tubing andthe bearing. Means are connected to the manifold block forintermittently feeding lubricant under pressure from the block to thetubing. When this pressure is applied, the ball moves to cut oil flow tothe bear ing, but the tubing bulges or expands, filling with lubricant.The tubing is provided with an annular pocket for retaining apredetermined quantity of lubricant upon such expansion. When pressureis released at the block, the tubing contracts and, part of thelubricant with which the tubing pocket had been previously filled issqueezed into the line leading to the bearing, the ball simultaneouslywithdrawing from its closed position.

Referring more particularly to the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-4 ofthe drawings, FIGURE 1 shows an automobile chassis generally indicatedat 11 comprising a pair of longitudinal frame members 12 and 13, frontwheels 14 and 15, and front wheel suspensions 16 and 17 respectively.The novel lubricant system of the invention comprises a lubricantmanifold block 18 mounted on a bracket 19 in the engine compartment. Areservoir 21 is carried by frame 11 and is adapted to carry a supply oflubricant for the automobile bearings. This reservoir is connected toblock 18 by a conduit 22 which contains a check valve 23, as shown inFIGURE 2. Check valve 23 prevents back flow to the reservoir and isconnected to a longitudinal conduit 24 within block 18.

A pump generally indicated at 25 is mounted on the other end of block 18and comprises a circular housing 26 within which is disposed a diaphragm27. One chamber 28 of housing 24% is connected by a conduit 29 to theintake manifold of the automobile engine shown in dot-dash lines at 31in FIGURE 1, this connection being made by means shown at 32. Ifdesired, a valve (not shown) manually controlled by a cable 33 leadingto the vehicle dashboard may be mounted within means 32 so that pump 25may be manually controlled, instead of automatically controlled bystarting and stopping of the engine.

Diaphragm 27 is connected to a piston 34 by a piston rod 35, piston 34being disposed within a cylinder 36 system may be periodically removed.this air vent may be located in an upper portion of connected withhousing 26. A helical compression spring 37 is' disposed within housing26 and urges dia phragm 27 and its associated parts to the left in FIG-UREQ. The outer end of cylinder 36 is connected to a. port 38 in block18, this connection also serving as a support for pump 25. A conduit 39extends inwardly from port 38, and a cross conduit 41 connects conduit39 to conduit 24 within block 18. An air vent comprising a conduit 42and a plug 43 is connected to conduit 41, so that any air which'mayaccumulate in the If appropriate,

T flow through this movement will bea reduction of pressure in lines 49,and the pressure previously built up in annular chambers 56 will thusforce balls 53 downwardly to the position shown in FIGURE 4. Tubes 46will contract, and in doing'so will partially deplete chambers 56, someof this lubricant flowing upwardly through lines '44 and other portionsflowing downwardly past balls 53 into passage 49. This dual flow isshown by the upwardly and downwardly pointing arrows in FIGURE 4.. Theresilient strength of tubes 46 is preferably suflicient to overcome thefrictional eifectof "lines 44, so that lubricant may lines 44 tothevarious bearings of the vehicle.

Should a liner44 become clogged, the build up of pressurein such linewill be such as to prevent the correspond- 7 ing ball 53 from seatingon'seat 52 when pressure Vthatmetering device 45 could be located atother points fin line 44, or in branch lines which lead from any or 7lines 44, to the various bearings The constructional details of eachmetering device 45 are best seen in FIGURES 2-4. The metering devicecomprises a short section of tubing 46, this tubing being specialcharacteristics which make it suitable for the purpose of carryinglubricant. 'The material o f which tubtubing should also have constanttemperature. flexing characteristics for purposes which will appearbelow.

Suitable materials may be found in various families of,

plastics and could include substances such as neoprene.

As seen'in FIGURE 2, the lower end of each tubing section 46 issecuredwithin a' port 47 in block 18 by an insert 48, port 47 beingconnected'to conduit 24, by a t fabricated of a resilient materialandpreferably having 7 is applied to theblock. This will result in anautomatic clean-out of the'clogged line, the strength of pump 25 beingpreferably such that this unclogging may be accomplished. It should benoted that it is unnecessary for ball 53 to close the connection betweentube 46 and passage 49 when the pressure is released, since some returnof lubricant to the block will not interferewith the functioning'of thesystem iniany way. The amount of lubricant flowing to the various lines44 may be individually adjusted by r the axial positions of rings 51,and also, if desired, by the type of material used for tubes 44.

During the last portion of the return stroke of piston 34 after chamber28has been returned to atmospheric voir 21'through conduit 22 into block18.

' metering device, and utilizes pressure such as that'from" FIGURES 5-7illustrate another embodiment of the inventiontwhich is generallysimilar to that of'FIGURES 1-4 but which discloses a somewhatdifferent'type of V the engine oil system to operate the, lubricatingsystem.

shortvpassage 49; The outer end of tubing 46 is secured I d j means of athreaded port 103. A connection 104 is V threadably mounted in port 103and is adapted to be conto its corresponding line 44 by a spring-likering 51, this ring being axially adjustable on tubing 46.

As seen particularly in FIGURES 3, and 4, tubing 46 overlaps'line 44 bya substantial amount, and ring 51 is located some distance away from theend 52 of line 44.

Aspherica'l member or ball 53 is disposed within stubing 46, between end52 of line 44 and end 54 of insert 48, the distance between ends 52 and54 being somewhat greater thanthe ball diameter. The size of ball 53' ismade larger than the unstressed internal diameter of tubing 46, sothatthe latter will snugly engagethe ball.

" 'Invoperation, the entire system will normally be filled with abearinglubricant. Upon application of vacuum to chamber 28 of pump 25,diaphragm ,27 will be urged.

to the right in FIGURE 2, forcing lubricant from cham berr55 of the pumpinto passages 39, 41, 24 and 49. This Will cause outward pressure onballs 53 in metering devices 46, .the' balls moving from the positionshown in 3 FIGURE 2 to that shown in FIGURE 3. Balls 53 will thus engageseats 520f lines 44, preventing further flow 'portion of tubing,46. Thisannular pocket is best seen in FIGURE 3, and it will be, noted thatthesize of the pocketwill be controlled by various factors, including theaxial position ofring 51 and the elasticity of the tubing.

The.importance,of constant'temperature fiexingflcliaracteristics for thetubing will thus be recognized.

The system of FIGURES 5-7 comprises an elongated block 101 mounted inthe engine compartment or other appropriate location and having'acentral longitudinal bore 102 closed at one end and open at the otherend by to form an annular chamber 1117 and a central chamber 108, thecentral chamber being connected to connector .1114 by means of orificemember 109 to prevent surging.

Annular chamber 107 is connected to a reservoir (not shown) similar toreservoir 21 which may contain bearinglubricanL-this connection being bymeans ofa port 7 111 in block 101, a check valve 112 and a conduit 113.d

A plurality of bearing feed lines 114 are connected to annularchamber107, these connections being made by means of metering devicesgenerally indicated at 115.

Each-metering devicecomprises a section of tubing 116 shade of materialsimilar to that previously described with respect to tubing 46. Theinner end of'each-tubing section passes through a port 117 in block 101connect- 1 ing with annular chamber 107, a ridge 118 being formed Uponreturn of chamber 28 to atmospheric pressure,

eitherby the shutting off of engine 31 or by manual 'operation'ofcable33,spring 37 will return piston 44'to its leftward position, in FIGURE2. Theinitial result of at theend of tubing to hold th'e tubinginposition. The outer end of tubing 1'16has a recess 119 by meansofwhich it may be tightly fastened to line 114.

A valve portion 121 is integrally formed in an intermediatefportion oftubing 116 and extends'toward block 101m spaced relation with the' mainportion of the tubing, thus forming a'n'annular .pocket'122 A valveseat123 is formed at the lower end of portion-121, and

a spherical member 124 is "disposed within tubing" 116 7 between valveseat 123 and block 101. The distance be-- tween the valve seat andtheblock is such as to permit some movement of ball 124, and as in theprevious embodiment, the ball diameter is larger than the unstressedinternal diameter of tubing 116.

In operation of the embodiment of FIGURES 5-7, application of pressureto the inside of diaphragm 106, such as by starting the engine, willcause this tubular diaphragm to operate, decreasing the size of chamber107. This will cause the lubricant within chamber 107 to be forced intotubings 116, moving balls 124 against valve seats 123.. Furtherexpansionof diaphragm 106 will force lubricant past the balls into annular pocket122, tubings 116 expanding or bulging so that a quantity of lubricantwill be received by each pocket 122, as seen in FIGURE 6.

When pressure inside diaphragm 106 is relaxed, such as by shutting d theengine, tubing sections 116 will contract and balls 124 will movedownwardly from valve seat 123 as seen in FIGURE 7. This will cause aportion of the lubricant held by pocket 122 to be forced through bore125 in valve portion 121 into lines 114, some of the lubricant alsoreturning to chamber 107. Further contraction of diaphragm 106 willcause replenislunent 'of chamber 107 by lubricant drawn from thereservoir conduit 113. The quantity of lubricant delivered to feed lines114 by each expansion and contraction of tubing sections 116 may ofcourse be varied by choosing proper proportions for pockets 122.

FIGURE 8 illustrates still another embodiment of the invention which issimilar to that of FIGURES -7 but is adapted for use in installationswhere engine oil is to be utilized for hearing lubrication, or where thehearing lubricant is supplied by a pump controlled separately from theengine. This embodiment comprises a block 201 having a longitudinalchamber 202 therein and a connector 203 leading from one end of thischamber for connection to an engine lubricating system (not shown) or toa separately controlled bearing lubricant pump. A plurality of bearingfeed lines 204 are connected to chamber 202 by means of metering device205, these devices being constructed similarly to those of the previousembodiment. Assuming that the same lubricant is used for both the engineand the bearings, tubular diaphragm 206 is no longer necessary; nor is aconnection to a lubricant reservoir, although the latter would benecessary if the device of FIGURE 8 were connected to a separatelycontrolled lubricant pump.

In operation of the embodiment of FIGURE 8, pressurization of thelubricant in the system by starting of the engine (or operation of theseparately controlled lubricant pump) will cause the annular pockets 206in metering device 205 to be filled with lubricant, and when thepressure is reduced, the lubricant will be forced into feed lines 204 bycontraction of the metering device tubes.

FIGURE 8 also illustrates an alternate position for one of the meteringdevices, as indicated in dot-dash lines at 207. It will be noted thatthis position is adjacent a connection 208 at the outer end ofcorresponding line 204. As mentioned previously, metering devices 207may be located at any position along lines 204 or their branches.

FIGURE 9 shows still another embodiment of the invention adapted for usein industrial plants, especially those which have a number of machinesor other operating parts in different locations which require periodiclubrication. While air actuation is shown, any other type of actuatorcan be used. The system includes a reservoir 331 containing a supply oflubricant 302, the underside of reservoir 301 having an outlet port 303.This outlet port leads to a header 304 having a plurality of Tconnections 305 along its extent. A metering unit generally indicated at306 has an outlet end 307 that is adapted to be connected to each Tconnection in the same general manner as a conventional lubricantfitting and can be screwed into any place a grease or lubricationfitting would be normally installed. Each metering unit comprises acasing 308 of cylindrical shape within which is disposed a tubularmetering device 309 of resilient ma- 6 terial, this metering devicebeing of the same general construction as those illustrated in FIGURES5-8. The metering device encloses a spherical member 311 and isconnected by a port 312 to T connection 305. The outlet end 313 of eachmetering device is connected with exit port 307 of the metering unit.

Reservoir 3d]. has a cover 314 which carries an air pressure port 315,this port being connected to a threeway valve 316 controlled by asolenoid 317. Valve 316 is provided with a supply port 318, an exhaustport 319 and a working port 321 connected to port 315. When valve 316 isin one position, pressure port 318 will be connected to port 315, thuscausing pressure to be exerted on lubricant 302 within reservoir 301.When valve 316 is in its other position, air chamber 322 above lubricant302 will be connected to exhaust port 319.

Valve 316 is normally in its exhaust position, but is shiftable to itspressure position by solenoid 317. This solenoid is controlled by aswitch 323 which is in series with the solenoid and with a supply source324. Switch 323 is normally open but is closable by a double-lobed cam325 which is driven by a motor 326 and engages an arm 327 on switch 323.The shape of cam 325 is such that when the cam is rotated clockwise fromthe position shown in FIGURE 9, switch 323 will be closed. When the nextshoulder 328 of the cam is reached, switch 323 will be opened. Thus,assuming manually operated switch 329 is closed, solenoid 317 will beenergized and deenergized twice during each revolution of earn 325.

A lamp 331 is placed across the circuit of solenoid 317 to indicateenergization of the solenoid, so that no attempt will be made to fillthe reservoir when it is -pres surized. A manual push button switch 332is provided for by-passing switch 323 when manually controlledlubrication is desired. A Whistle 333 is mounted in the lower portion'of reservoir 301, and is actuatable by a float 334 when the lubricanthas dropped below a predetermined level, the air in chamber 322operating the whistle.

In operation, switch 329 will be closed, thus energizing motor 326. Uponrotation of cam 325 from its FIG- URE 9 position solenoid 317 will beenergized, causing chamber 322 to be pressurized. Lubricant 302 will beforced through header 304 and into metering units 306. The annularpockets in metering devices 369 will be filled as in the previousembodiment, it being noted that casing 308 will prevent excessiveexpansion of each metering device. When the next shoulder 328 of cam 325reaches arm 327, switch 323 Will open, shifting valve 316 to its exhaustposition. The release of pressure on lubricant 302 will permitcontraction of metering devices 339, forcing lubricant past sphericalmembers 311 toward the hearings to be lubricated.

It will thus be seen that a simple and efficient lubricating system hasbeen provided which automatically assures a controlled lubricant supplyto all the bearings of an automotive vehicle or of machines in afactory, without the need of individual attention to these parts.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of theinvention disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects abovestated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible tomodification, variation and change without departing from the properscope or fair meaning of the subjoined claim. Thus, while I prefer touse resilient tubing to form the expandable chambers, they could, withinthe broad purview of the invention, be formed in other ways. Thus, anexpandable chamber could be formed by using a spring pressed piston toform a yieldable wall portion of an otherwise rigidly walled chamber.

What is claimed is:

In a system for intermittently metering fluid to a plurality of points,a reservoir containing said fluid, a pressure medium, a connectionbetween said pressure medium and said reservoir, a valve in saidconnection shifta valve betweenits exhaust and pressure positions,whereby 7 the fluid in said reservoir Will be alternately pressurizedand de-pressurized, means indicating pressurizing and depressurizing ofsaid fluid, a plurality of feed lines connected vto said reservoir, anda metering device in each of said feed lines comprising means fortemporarily re taining a predetermined amountof fluid in response to thepressurizing of saidfluid and for forcing at least a portion of saidretained fluid'toward the delivery end of the'feed line in responseto'de-pressurizing of ,said fluid.

References (Iited by the Examiner V UNITED STATES PATENTS 458,450 8/91Fitzgerald. 2,048,323 7/36 'CuttS". 2,260,904 10/41 HOrtO'n. 2,478,2608/49 Fioretti 222-335' 2,498,407 2/50 Fine. 2,705,094 1/55 "HOV/ell222-335 2,742,978 *4/56 Peterson et a1. 0 3,005,330 10/61 Bochan 222-334'LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

LAV'ERNEVD. GEIGER, Examiner.

